Mohamed Nasheed announces his resignation on Feb. 7, 2012 in Male during a televised press conference after a mutiny by the police and weeks of demonstrations.

President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives resigned on Tuesday after weeks of protests erupted into a police mutiny, leaving the man widely credited with bringing democracy to the paradise islands accused of being as dictatorial as his predecessor.

Nasheed handed power over the Indian Ocean archipelago to Vice-President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik, who was sworn in in the afternoon, explaining that continuing in office would result in his having to use force against the people.

"I resign because I am not a person who wishes to rule with the use of power," he said in a televised address. "I believe that if the government were to remain in power it would require the use of force which would harm many citizens."